Question

Blocking a directory of a website via DNS

Posted on January 5, 2017
Nginx Apache DNS Ubuntu
Asked by AireServ

Hello, so I have been trying to block only a directory of a website for a few days now. I want to edit it and make it look like the site is telling the user you cannot view this page on this network; like DNS spoofing, but for a directory only.

I’m not very experienced with Nginx or Apache (in Ubuntu) so I’m not quite sure what my options are.

For an example, I want to block example.com/content/iwantthisblocked but I want everything else to be unblocked or “pass through.”

Can anyone help me with this? It would be very helpful as I do not want to spend the money on an expensive web filter.

Thanks!

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Jonathan Tittle • January 6, 2017

Accepted Answer

@AireServ

As far as DNS goes, you won’t be able to block directory access using DNS. DNS simply routes the entries from the DNS provider (i.e. DigitalOcean or your domain registrar) to your web server. Once the request is routed, the web server handles the request and is responsible for how it’s handled (i.e. the response sent to the browser).

You can dig in to more routing options, of course, but for something as simple as blocking directory access, it’d be overkill since NGINX is capable of handling this for you.

Jonathan Tittle • January 6, 2017

@AireServ

Unless your router allows for the configuration of a destination or redirect, no. Some routers provide more advanced options, some not so much. It all boils down to what the firmware allows for.

Gaurav Sabharwal • January 6, 2017

I am not sure what the intent is but you could change the permissions on the folder so it’s not accessible to Apache and Apache will generate a 403 forbidden message to the end user.